Real life or just a dream?
by RainbowDuck
Summary: Severus Snape finds Harry, a mere first year (and a small one at that) lost inside the halls of Hogwarts. He soon discovers that he is mentally, physically and sexually abused. with the help of his husband, Lucius Malfoy, will they be able to turn Harry into a normal young boy? No Voldemort at all!
1. Chapter 1

I still couldn't understand fully. It just wasn't making sense. Only a month ago I had been a stupid worthless freak who no one wanted. The only difference now was that I knew I was a wizard; but that only made me more of a freak (especially if I managed to kill this evil person as a baby) I knew I wasn't normal when I did things like push Uncle Vernon into a wall on the other side of the room without moving or jumping onto the roof of a 3 story building without climbing. I knew I wasn't normal and now a ginormasly tall man had proved it by taking me to a magical place to buy magical things for the magical school that I was currently on my way to on a magical train. Everything was so strange. However, the thing that kept me from believing that this was just a dream was the pain from Uncle Vernon's 'gift'.

The slowing of the train made me aware of the fact that we were almost there so I pulled on my new robes over my nicest top (there was barely any stains or smell and there was only a small hole at the bottom where the stitching had come undone slightly)and my well worn and battered jeans that almost fit me. The trainers on my feet were old and beaten and my toes stuck out the top but I didn't dare ask for more.

After the giant man who had shown me how to get my new things had rounded up the first years and took us on a 10 minute boat ride, we arrived at, what has got to be, the biggest castle in the world. I couldn't see most of it but I could see that there were many lines of windows so there must be millions of floors. We were made to wait in a giant entrance hall and almost everyone was crowded together except a few. One of those was a boy with blond hair combed backwards acting as if he was the best. He started saying things towards another boy who was slightly chubby when a really strict looking teacher came and told him off. She then made us get into two lines before following her into what she called 'The Great Hall'. This hall was enormous! The ceiling looked like the sky outside (black and full of stars) and I overheard a frizzy haired girl telling another that it was bewitched. The hall itself was filled with 4 long tables running parallel to the side walls which were filled with other students and 1 long table which was perpendicular to these tables and was full of adults. The tables with the students on each had a different coloured banner hanging seemingly in mid-air with a different name on each. I had never really learned how to read...well I have never really been to school so I don't know how to do anything apart from cook and clean. On the far left side of me was a green and silver table and then a bronze and blue table. On the far right side of me was a gold and red table and a yellow and black table. Whilst I had been taking in my surroundings, we had been slowly walking towards the table with the adults sitting at which I now realised was on a slightly raised platform. As we came to a stop the teacher walked up the 3 steps and out of nowhere produced a small stool with an old hat and a...roll of paper? She then began reading of names from the paper. When she called a name the person would walk up to the teacher, sit on the stool and the hat would be placed on their head. After a few seconds the hat would shout out a name and then the hat would be taken off of their head the teacher touched their robes with her wand and they would turn into the colours of their 'house' instead of the standard black and they would be off. Pretty soon most of the students had been sorted into their houses (which I had learned were Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin) and I was next.

"Potter, Harry" I walked, well tried to without limping, up to the stool. Now while the stool was rather small so that us 'firsties', as I had heard some being called, it was still too large for me to sit on without having to climb. However, just before I began trying to climb onto it, the teacher tapped it with her wand and it shrunk so that I could sit down easily; however the hat fell down to my chin.

'Ah. Mr Potter. I wondered when I would see you' How did the hat know my name? Well most people knew my name but still. Could everyone hear it or...well it must have talked to the others and I didn't hear it then so... 'Mr Potter. Do not panic. No one can hear a conversation between me and the wearer. Right, now...let me see. Ah, you have a longing to belong. Somewhere where you will feel at home. But you doubt that you belong anywhere. You have a thirst for knowledge yet you are kind and loyal. Hmm...what's this? This changes it all. Oh yes it defiantly does. It's going to have to be...'

"SLYTHERIN"

I quickly pulled the hat off of my head a gave it to the teacher who changed my clothes to the green and silver colour of Slytherin. As her wand cane near me I tried (and failed) not to flinch but it wasn't too visible. I then walked over to my house and sat down, grateful that I could slightly rest my foot. Pretty soon everyone had been sorted and an extremely old man in brightly coloured clothes began talking.

"Welcome back to all of our old students. Hello to all of our new. I hope that everyone has had a good summer holiday. For those new students, I wish for you to remember these few rules. The forbidden forest is out of bounds for all except Professor Snape's Potion Group and Professors Hagrid and Filtch's detentionees. I also wish for that to be a reminder for some of the returning students. On that note, tuck in" Suddenly, the table was overfilled with much more food then I have ever seen. I glanced at everyone as they all dived for the food as if they had not eaten for years. they all piled their plates high and looked at me as I just sat there. I tentatively took a few sausages and a few potatoes. I have cooked sausages for my uncle and cousin a few times and now I finally know why they like them so much. they never left any for me and I know why; they are so nice! I ate what I had in a few minutes and I carefully took a few more sausages. I put a few into my pocket without anyone noticing and began eating some more. I just couldn't stop!

Just as I was finishing my last sausage, the food simply dissapeared. I had no idea about where it went to, only that mere seconds after it was all gone, it was replaced my millions of different deserts. Pancakes (with a range of toppings from lemon and suggar to sryup), brownies, cake (chocolate, sponge, cheese and carrot). There were even muffins (chocolate and blueberry seemed to be the main ones), biscuits, ice cream, doughnuts, jelly and rice pudding. I was overwhelmed with the amount of food. Also, I have never tried anything sweet. The sweetest thing I have ever eaten was some buttered toast; once.

I carefully took a few biscuits and it was like with the sausages; I couldn't stop eating them. I then tried a piece of cake, which I ate in around 2 minutes, and I ended up eating around 5 pieces. I then began trying all of the rest of the sweets. By the time the food dissappeared I had eaten 5 pieces of chocolate cake, 3 brownies, a blueberry muffin, 4 pancakes and a bowl of ice cream. After a while, the teacher in the bright robe things began talking again.

"Now that everyone has eaten their fill, the prefects will kindly direct the first years towards the common rooms where they will be staying for the next 7 years. Classes will begin in 2 days so I wish to advise the first years to spend tomorrow finding out where the classrooms are. With that, good night" Suddenly the previously silent hall was a mixture of people clapping and others talking and standing to leave. 2 people stood up from my table and began shouting for 'first years follow me'. I stood and began following them.


	2. Chapter 2

I have had some reviews from people claiming they found it dificult to read this chapter. Just to let you know, you can edit the font and line spaces in a story in the settings at the top of the page. this will help you read easier :)

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I watched as Minerva lead in the first years into the hall and watched the awe on their faces. You could automatically tell apart the muggleborns from the half-blood and pure-bloods as their awe was in greater volumes. She pulled out a stool and the sorting hat from within her pocket where they had been shrunk to fit and began calling out names. I spotted Draco and he went to flash a smile at me but then he remembered and pulled up the Malfoy mask. It's a shame he had to learn this but it was necessary. I soon noticed that the Weasley twins were trying to guess what house a person would be in based on their looks and name. Most of the guesses were right, surprisingly; not that I would ever say a thing like that. The youngest Weasley boy was sorted into Gryffindor, naturally. I noticed that a set of identical quadruplet girls were sorted one in each house and I knew they would be trouble as it was hard to tell who was who. When it was Draco's turn I prayed that he would get Slytherin which he did with the hat just barely touching his head. A few Ravenclaws, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs later and the name I had bean dreading was announced. Harry Potter. I had been looking for him the line of first years but I couldn't immediately spot him. When he came forward the hall fell silent. He was by far the smallest in the year (probably ever) and I could tell he was trying to hide a limp in his step. He was paler than parchment and looked to be stick thin. What was going on. Minerva had to transfigure the stool even smaller than it was just so he could climb on.  
Almost 2 minutes went by and the hat still hadn't called out an answer. Everyone was beginning to become agitated when it at last shouted out...Slytherin. I was shocked to say the least. Why my house of all the houses. Why didn't he go to Gryffindor like everyone expected him to? Why was he small and thin? Why...? My thoughts trailed off as he walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. After a few words from Dumbledore the feast lay before everyone's eyes. I placed some chicken, peas and carrots onto my plate and spooned on some mash as well before pouring gravy on top. When I had eaten a few bites I looked over at my Slytherins and noticed that Harry wasn't eating at all. He was looking at everyone around him and watching them eat but before I could wonder about why he wasn't eating one of the older boys nearby gestured to the food and presumably told him to eat something. I watched as he carefully took a sausage from a nearby platter and take a small bite out of it. The way his eyes widened and lit up sparked a curiosity in me as he acted as if he had never tasted something as simple as a sausage before. I watched, again, as he took some more and a few potatoes. I went back to eating my meal but I glanced up again a few moments later and noticed him sliding a few sausages into his pockets. I was becoming more and more confused about this boy. By the time desert appeared I was thoroughly confused about the small boy. He had eaten nothing but sausages and a few potatoes. However he had eaten around a platter and half of sausages so at least he had eaten something. When desert came he ate almost at least one thing off of each platter and so I tried to put his eating down to not wanting proper food but sweets instead but my subconscious wouldn't believe it.

"I noticed that you have noticed him and most likely first" whispered Minerva from beside me "He is too small and thin to be healthy"  
"Yes Minerva, I have noticed him. He does seem to be eating a rather strange meal and the way he eats the food is like he has never tasted it at all" I explained to her.  
"Yes. I noticed how his eyes almost lit up just looking at the food let alone tasting it. Also he had to be told to eat before he started. You don't think...do you?" She didn't say it but I knew what she was thinking.  
"In all honesty, I do. I began thinking it when he tried to cover up a bad limp when he walked up to be sorted"  
"He is limping?" she almost shouted. I shushed her while nodding the affirmative. A scowl etched itself onto her face and she didn't speak another word all throughout dinner. By the end of dinner she had calmed down but she still looked angry. When Dumbledore had finished his announcements and dismissed everyone, I stood and exited the room through the teachers door (which was disguised as part of the wall). I beat my first year snakes to the Slytherin common room by around 5 minutes so I concealed myself in the shadows that surrounded the door outside in the corridor to watch. The prefects lead them downstairs and Draco wasn't far behind them (like I expected). Harry was the last one to reach the bottom of the stairs and I noticed a look of pain on his face. He was confusing me to no end. I had expected him to be spoilt rotten and the Gryffindor prince, exactly like his father in other words. He did have his fathers hair; but that was it. He was small and skinny whereas his father was tall and lanky yet built. Most of his features were Lily's; his enormous emerald coloured eyes were hers, he had the same shape of mouth as hers and he even had her nose and face shape. I desperately wished for him to be tall and lanky with an ego bigger than his heart and for him to be anything _but_ a Slytherin. A Potter shouldn't be a snake. It just didn't fit in right with everything. Guaranteed, nothing was as it actually looked but then again, most people only see what they wish to see.  
By now, the prefects had guided the first years into the common room and they were all gathered around the fire on the numerous settees available; except for Potter. He was sat on the floor the furthest away from the fire he could be without looking to have left the group. As I was stood behind them all they didn't hear me enter until I was stood in front of the fire.  
"Settle down and stop the noise, now" I ordered them. My presence alone had quieted them but my order stopped them completely. "Thank you. My name is Professor Severus Snape. I am the head of house for Slytherin and I welcome you to your home for the next 7 years. The people around you will be your family and friend and maybe your enemy. While outside the Slytherin common room or dorms you are not permitted to show hatred or anger to another Slytherin. Inside, you may disagree to your hearts content; permitted I don't have to become involved. When I become involved, your arguments will always become petty. As for rules, you already know one of them; to keep all disputed between Slytherins inside the common room. If you are caught fighting with any member of any house you will be punished. If you are caught fighting with a Slytherin in the corridor, the punishment will be worse. Understand?" I had ranted and stressed this part to every Slytherin year I had taught and so far no one had second guessed it. That was the case now as they all gave a series of nods and let out an agreement of 'yes sir'. "First years have a bedtime of 8.30 pm" I carried on despite the chorus of groans "And lights out are at 9. Breakfast is at 7 am with classes starting at 8.05am. Lunch is served from 12.35pm until 2pm with lessons until 4.10pm. Dinner is from 5pm until 6.30pm and any time after that is free time. You will notice that you are allotted 5 minutes between each class. This is for bathroom breaks and to be able to travel between classrooms without missing the beginning of each class. Both witches and wizards constantly use magic throughout the day and their energy is constantly being used. To prevent depleting your magical core, you are to consume substances constantly. You young witches will find it appealing that you may eat a fair amount of food and will never gain weight. However, this is only if you eat balanced meals and snacks. If you place the tip of your wand against a desk in any classroom and state a piece of fruit or a brand of cereal, a portion of it will appear. Only dried cereal is allowed though as you still have to work while eating. You are allowed to order one portion in each class and if you try to get your classmates to use one of their portions for you, the kitchen elves will know as it's their magic that is ordering it. Once a day you are permitted to order a few pieces of chocolate or a few biscuits or any other unhealthy snack. This is to prevent low blood sugar and you passing out. Also, state a beverage such as a juice, milk or water and that shall appear. Now I feel like I have kept you here for too long as you still have to unpack and get ready for bed. All notices will be on the board in the corner opposite to the entrance and they will include a list of rules, the password for the week and many other messages. Off you go now to bed as it's and early morning to become used to the routine" I finally dismissed them all and with tired limbs they wearily climbed the stairs in order to find their dorms. I exited the common room hoping for a peaceful night.  
Normally, I would have only briefly outlined the rules and told them to read them properly (on the notice board) before taking them to the medical wing for the start of year check up, but Professor Sprout had claimed the first week. Each year group is subjected to a check up by Poppy Pomfrey at the start of the year but it is mainly the first years as she records their basic functions (height, weight, appearance, health). It takes a week for each year in each house to be assessed so it can be up to 7 weeks before a 7th year if given a medical exam. This is what the heads of house are for; to look for the signs on illness or abuse and take them to Poppy if need be. I knew that Potter was one I should be looking out for but I honestly didn't want him to be different. I wanted him to be a Gryffindor with an ego bigger that the galaxy who was spoilt rotten. However, he was a shy, small, Slytherin who looked to skinny and in rags to be a pampered prince. While thinking about all of this is dressed for bed in my black silk pyjamas and allowed sleep to claim me.


	3. Chapter 3

I was lead down into a cold dark place, and at one point I almost lost everyone (as I couldn't keep up with my foot) but one of the prefects came to the back and helped me down the stairs. It got colder and colder and many people began to shiver but suddenly we were outside a huge picture of this strange person. The prefect at the front said something like besore and the picture came out on it's side, like a door. As we walked in, a rush of warmth spread around us and everyone gave a sigh before crowding around the fireplace. I went and joined the group but I knew I couldn't sit on the furniture or be as close to the fire as the other people but I had to make myself look normal (according to Aunt Petunia).

For the first time I could remember, I had a full stomach and it was a strange but happy feeling. I felt nervous about everything because I had never left my aunt and uncle's house overnight before. Now I was meant to be away for a long time without doing chores. I still think that aunt is playing a joke on me. I was waiting for her to show up and take me away.

Suddenly, an extremely tall man was stood in front of the fire. He had long black hair that was greasy and he wore all black clothes. He ordered everyone to be silent (even though I already was) and he introduced himself before going on to describe the rules and how to obtain food during lesson. I was tired but I made sure to listen to every single rule as I didn't want to get into trouble on the first day, or any day for that matter. When he had told us all the rules he then said that we were to go upstairs and unpack and get ready for bed. Everyone began standing up and he left soon after that.

The 2 people that had stood up at the end of the feast began telling us where to go. I had learned that the girl was a 6th year head of house prefect called Queszaura and the boy was a 5th year prefect called Damon. Queszaura began calling for the girls to follow her and Damon did the same but for the boys. He lead us all up the stairs and I could hear faint noise coming from behind a few doors.

"Normally you wouldn't be able to hear any noise at all but some people obviously haven't closed their doors properly. Each door contains a silencing charm which will be taught to you in 2nd year. This year we have more boys than normal as there are 11 of you so there will have to be 6 beds in one room. In the early days of Hogwarts, each house was getting about 50 maybe 60 pupils but over the years the family lines have diluted and died out. You lot are in the 2 rooms right at the end of the hall as they are the ones that the 7th years were in last year". He had been talking constantly until we got the the 2 doors at the end of the rather short hallway. The spaces between the doors were only short so the rooms looked like they would struggle to have 1 bed but this place was 'magical'. The last 2 in the hallway were directly opposite each other and apart from the walls being rough cut stone and the doors being solid oak, it was a standard hallway.

"When you board the train, your belongings are put into another compartment and house elves take those belongings, when it arrives at Hogsmeade, and places them in a spare room. The house elves watch each and every one of you when you arrive and as soon as you're sorted into a house they take those things to the common room of that house. From there the house elves decide where you will sleep for the next 7 years. So what I am saying is, I have no idea where your things will be so you will have to look at the bottom of each bed where your name will be and this is where I leave you so goodnight and remember, bed time is in 30 minutes and the lights will automatically be extinguished in 1 hour. If you're not in bed by the time the lights go out then Professor Snape will be notified. Goodnight!" and then he was gone. He had almost run down the corridor and turned into one of the rooms. The blond boy I had seen earlier was in our rather small group and he made to go to one of the rooms and suddenly everyone was moving. I walked towards one of the doors (which both were now open) and began hesitantly looking for my name. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to find my name and as soon as everyone realised that I didn't have a bed they would send me back to my aunt and uncle's.

The room I entered had those stone walls again and as I pressed my hand against it I expected it to be cold but it was warm. The beds were rather high up and had green curtains that you could pull around each bed. I think they were called 'four-poster beds'. The room was a long rectangle shape with beds down the left side. Next to each bed was a small table with a draw and opposite each bed was a large wardrobe for each person to place their clothes. I taught myself to count when I was younger and so I could count that there were 6 beds in this room. In the spaces between each wardrobe was what looked like a mirror but when a fish swam past we knew it was a window looking under the lake. One the other side of the room was a door exactly like the one leading to the corridor but behind it was the bathroom. This room was almost a circle shape and had 6 doors inside. Each door had a name on it and behind each door was a bath, walk-in shower, toilet and sink with a cabinet above it. While looking around I had been wondering about what I was going to do as your name was meant to be on the bottom of the bed but I couldn't read so I didn't know which one was mine. Walking out of the bathroom I noticed that a boy was either pulling things out of a trunk or placing things into a wardrobe and so obviously my bed wasn't in here. I walked out of the room and into the room opposite the one I was in. This room was exactly the same as the other one but this one only had 5 beds. People were at 4 of the beds and so the last one must be mine. I walked to the 3rd bed from the door and opened the trunk at the bottom of the bed and found my new books and clothes. I spent the next few minutes putting my small amount of clothes into the wardrobe at the bottom of my bed.

No one in the room had said anything much to each other but while everyone was unpacking I was looking at all of them to see if any of them were dangerous. In the bed closest to the bathroom was that blond boy from before (something told me I would be seeing him quite a lot) and the bed next to him and me was a rather tall boy with dark coloured skin and hair. On the other side of me was a boy with light brown hair and next to the door leading to the corridor was another boy with black hair. Everyone had been unpacking what looked like a mountain of clothes. They had lots of different tops (school and normal [if they were smart looking]) and many different types of trousers and even at least 2 school robe things. Everyone even had taken a fair amount of things into the bathroom like soap and toothbrushes but I didn't have either of those. I had 2 school tops, a school robe and tie and then I had 5 of Dudley's tops that had been given to me, a pair of grey trousers (that my cousin called 'trackies') and 2 pairs of jeans that used to be Dudley's. I also had my beaten pair of trainers that had been given to me 2 years ago. Only good boys got toothbrushes.

Eventually, the brown haired boy next to me gathered a pair of pyjamas and walked into the bathroom. I picked up my trackies and a random top and walked into the bathroom as well. About half way up each door was a green squiggle that looked like the ones at the bottom of each bed. When I looked at them again I noticed that the 2nd door from the left had a silver squiggle. Just then, the boy from the other side of me walked in. He gave a quick look around and then walked into the 4th door from the left. As soon as the door was closed the squiggle turned silver and I realised that because they were either side of me in the bedroom, they must be either side of me here as well. I walked into the middle bathroom and I heard the door lock behind me. There was 2 silver rail things and 1 was holding a white towel and so I realised the other was for my pyjamas. After putting my clothes where they should be and realising that there already was some soap inside the shower, I undressed and stepped into the shower which instantly turned on with warm water. I knew it was magic when I couldn't find a power chord. After the shower I dried and dressed and just before I left I realised that there was a toothbrush at the sink and so I walked up to the sink and tried to reach the toothbrush. Suddenly, a small step thing appeared and so I stood on it and I could reach the sink to brush my teeth. Next to the door was a basket type thing and when I put my dirty clothes inside...they disappeared! I left the bathroom at the same time as the dark skinned boy who was in the bed next to me. I could still hear the blond boy shouting about how he wasn't going to unpack his clothes himself as it was 'servants work'. I guess he must be rich to have servants (and so many fancy clothes). I began walking to my bed but then...

"Malfoy! If you complain that it's servants work one more time then I will kill you. Also, you have 5 minutes and the lights will automatically go out so if you want a shower you need to go now!". It was the dark skinned boy who practically shouted this. Suddenly the blond boy jumped up and ran into the bathroom and everyone began laughing. I finally walked over to my bed but then, another thing happened that made me think; the bed was taller than me. I was only half way up the height of the bed and even jumping didn't help me (it just made my foot hurt more).

"Would you like a hand?" asked the dark skinned boy.

"Yes please" I hesitantly replied and before I could blink he had lifted me up and sat me on my bed.

"I just realised, while our names are on the beds, we don't actually know each other". It was as he said it that we realised it as well.

"Well, my name is Blaise Zambini and I was born on 25th May 1980"

"My name is Draconis Lucius Malfoy and I was born 5th June 1980" said the blond boy next to the bathroom.

"Yes we all know who you are" laughed the boy I now knew was Blaise. The other black haired boy spoke up then.

"I am Frederic Brimth and I was born 14th April 1980"

"My name is Jeremy Malottoreand I was born 27th August 1980".

When someone said there name everyone smiled at them; and then came my turn. I knew that everyone would know me because Hagrid had told me about being famous but I was still scared.

"No need to ask who you are" began Draco. Suddenly, he cried out as Blaise hit him.

"Save that sort of stuff for the Weasleys Malfoy" shouted Blaise. "Anyway, ignore him Harry...I can call you Harry right?" he asked me. I gave a nod of my head and he carried on. "I can honestly say that I and probably everyone else is shocked that you are in Slytherin but welcome" he said and smiled at me. I began to reply when the room was suddenly filled with darkness. It didn't scare me at all but what did make me jump was the loud, girlish scream that came from the bathroom and the person with a green face who followed it.

"Merlin, Draco. You almost gave us all heart attacks" stated Frederic.

"Yeah and what in the name of Salazar have you got on your face?" asked Blaise.

"It's mashed avocados to keep my skin smooth and spot free" stated Draco with a snobbish sounding voice. Just then there was a knock at the door and a faint voice came from behind it. However, it was too quiet to hear so Jeremy opened the door. Stood there was Damon the male prefect.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked. We all replied yes but then Draco answered.

"No I am not. I was preforming my nightly ritual and the lights gave out on me and I was forced out of my bathroom" he said all that in that snobbish voice again.

"Ah. One thing I forgot to tell you, once the lights go off you're not suppost to be in the bathroom but since it is the first night, well for the first week while you grow used to the time limits, the bathroom will give you a small push to make you hurry up. Also, you are only allowed to go to the bathroom once each night. You can go more than once but if you do try to go another time then it will alert professor Snape" Damon informed us all.

"While that is all good, how am I suppost to finish my nightly ritual if I'm not suppost to be in the bathroom?"

"What do you have left to do?"

"I have to finish applying the avocado mush and brush my hair"

"Well it's not much and I'm sure that you can survive 1 night without brushing your hair and you look to have enough...mush, on your face" Damon said and then he left. Suddenly everyone was laughing but Draco just stomped his feet and climbed into bed and turned over. I heard everyone else climbing into bed and I began lying down. I swear this bed must be made entirely from feathers as it was so comfortable. I could hear Draco muttering to himself but no one was listening.

"Hey Harry, are you still awake?" whisper shouted Blaise. I didn't know what to do as I couldn't and he couldn't see me since it was dark so I couldn't nod my head but I didn't want to just ignore him. I was thinking about what to do when I heard movement. "Harry? I can see the white of your eyes, wow I can even see the green. It's like your eyes are glowing" he said with a smile in his voice. "Can I ask you a question? Well 2 questions?" he asked me.

"That is 1 question down already" whispered Frederic and it made me smile.

"Shut up you" he said I could hear the smile in his words "So can I?". I gave him a nod and wondered if he would see it.

"I saw your eyes move up and down. Was that a nod?". I nodded again and he stated the word 'great'. "How come you're so small?" he asked me. How could I answer this? I couldn't speak for 1 and for 2, I am not allowed to tell anyone what happens in the house.

"And how come you never speak?" he carried on with the questions.

"Maybe he doesn't know how to" spoke Draco. Everyone began saying things like 'that's not possible' and 'that's not true' and before they could try and get an answer from me I closed my eyes and made sleeping sounds. Finally, everyone began going quiet and soon enough, I was actually asleep in my first ever bed.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the first day of classes and already I wanted to murder some of the brats. The first lesson was a double with Hufflepuff and Slytherin 2nd years. The 3rd and 4th lesson were easy ones as it was the 7th and 6th years. They are easy because they are only doing written work for now and because it was an O.W.L. option, all 4 houses were in 1 class due to the small amount of people from 1 house there (Hufflepuff only had 2 people, thankfully). My last 2 lessons were another double period but this time with first year Slytherin and Gryffindor. Thankfully the only difficult lesson was the last one of the day. The first one was slightly difficult but I only had to watch the Slytherins for putting extra ingredients into the Hufflepuff's cauldrons and for the Hufflepuffs mixing up their ingredients or missing a step. I had been informed this morning in the staff meeting, that Professor Sprout had used the last 2 days of weekend to get all of her first year Hufflepuffs through Poppy's medical exams. Apart from a boy who was slightly malnourished there was only 1 person who was bad. On the second day, Poppy had found a child with bruises covering her body and many were in the shape of hands. 3 ribs had been broken along with her jaw and wrist. Tearing to her nether regions proved that physical abuse wasn't the only abuse she was subjected to. Immediately, Poppy had contacted Saint Mungo's and the Aurors and had had her taken to hospital for specialist treatment and her family had been contacted. Both of her parents had been killed in the First Wizarding War and she was an only child. Her uncle had sole custody over her and the hands fit; so to speak. It was tragic to think that such a young child was made to be like that. Hopefully now, they could begin mending her. The ministry had informed Dumbledore that she wouldn't be coming to Hogwarts at all and they would help rehabilitate her and give her a private education.  
Eventually the bell rang and classes began. For some strange reason, the Slytherins never even tried to place an extra ingredient into a Hufflepuff's cauldron or distract them from their work. The most famous boy for causing trouble in 2nd year was George Brimth and even he was surprisingly quiet. Thankfully no accidents occurred this lesson and just as they were all rushing to leave my presence I called out;  
"Mr. Brimth, a moment". He stopped dead in his tracks and I saw the sympathetic looks his house mates gave him. As soon as the door was closed he looked at me and smiled. I gave him a small smile back before motioning him into my office to have a talk.  
"I would like to know what is wrong with you and the rest of Slytherin. You are all far too quiet for even my tastes". He gave me a small smile.  
"Mr. Potter" was all he said.  
"Care to elaborate?"  
"Not like I have much of a choice. He is a mystery to us all. Half of the house is afraid to talk to him because of their parents and the other half are afraid of him". I pondered this for a moment before carrying on.  
"While I understand why they would be scared of their parents, why does he scare everyone and what does this have to do with why Slytherin is so quiet?"  
"For one, he is so small and skinny. My 6 year old brother is taller than him. We are afraid to break him. Also, the way he constantly watches everything and barely ever seems to blink causes people to be wary. If someone moves around him too fast he will flinch and curl into himself. The worst thing that is making all of us quiet is the screaming" he finished.  
"Screaming? I haven't been told about any screaming" I told him with a confused expression.  
"Well, you know how the prefects have alarms in their rooms to alert them if anyone is in trouble or moving about in their rooms?" he asked me to which I gave a nod so he could carry on "Well from inside our rooms we can tell if there is commotion outside and so when the prefects come running past everyone's door at 3am every morning we all wake up and then look to see what is going on"  
"And let me guess. It's Mr. Potter who keeps screaming so badly that people are waking up"  
"Yes sir but not only that, because his door is always left open we can all hear his screams and they are always followed by him saying 'I'm sorry uncle' repeatedly". I then quickly pulled out my wand and created a pass for him so that he wouldn't be in trouble for missing the first 10 minutes of his lesson.  
Walking into my classroom I was glad that the dunderheads had been filtered out because the 7th years had already settled down and was getting on with their work which left me to my thoughts; which were again on that blasted Potter. Why did it always come back to Potter? The bell finally rang to signal the end of class. The loud noise made me come back to awareness for a moment and I managed to spell a potion recipe onto the board before going back to my thoughts. The 6th years were the same as the 7th years in the fact that they came in silently and only had to look at the board to know what to do. I never even noticed the time passing and I was so caught up in my thoughts that Minerva's patronus actually startled me. The words that were emitted from the small cat – which was now sat on my desk – caused me to stand up and begin walking to the Great Hall.  
"Severus, lunch started 10 minutes ago and you're not here. If you're still not here in another 10 minutes I promise that I will personally come down there and drag you up here". I wanted to ignore the message but I knew Minerva would keep her promise and she had also instructed her patronus to follow me to the hall (so I found as it followed me out of the room). When I arrived there, Minerva was sat next to me and a plate of food was already waiting for me.  
"Before you start ranting about me missing meals again, I never planned on it today. My head was so wrapped up thinking about Potter that I just about managed to spell a potions recipe onto the board for the 6th years" I told her. She gave me a strange look before sighing.  
"You're not the only one. I had him this morning with the Hufflepuff's and he never said one word. Filius had him next and he told me something that I noticed as well. He never answered any questions and he never wrote any notes down. He just stared into space"  
I began eating my lunch and when I was almost done I began talking again.  
"I have Potter and the rest of my Slytherin first years next for a double lesson and I am keeping them after as I was informed that the infirmary was free now so I am doing my checks tonight. I will save him until last or almost last". I then stood up and began making my way to my afternoon classes.


End file.
